once upon a time recapping: second star to the right

This week on Once Upon a Time, the conflict between our magic-hating outsiders and the heroes of Storybrooke comes to a head. In Storybrooke, Greg and Tamara unleash a world of hurt upon Regina and while Emma and Co. attempt to find her (and the remaining magical beans). In London, we learn what happened to young Baelfire after he fell through the magic portal alone.

In London, Baelfire travels through the portal and wakes up alone in turn of the century England. Starving, he sneaks into a townhouse through an open window to steal some bread. He’s caught by the young Wendy Darling, and she offers him as much food as he wants. Wendy hides him in the crawlspace, but her parents discover their guest and invite him to stay. That night in the bedroom Wendy is excited for the arrival of “the shadow.” Bae reveals his history with magic and warns her that it comes with a price. Despite his warning, Wendy goes to Neverland when the shadow visits that night. Wendy returns the next morning and confirms Bae’s fears – the shadow never lets children leave Neverland once they arrive. The only reason she was released is because the shadow intends to take one of her brothers. That night the shadow returns, and Bae offers to go with him to keep Wendy’s family intact. En route to Neverland, he gets the best of the shadow and falls into the sea surrounding the island. He is fished from the sea by our favorite pirate, Captain Hook.

In Storybrooke, Emma, Snow, Charming, and Henry try to track down Regina and the magic beans. When they get to her office, however, the beans and Regina are missing and there are signs of foul play. Emma immediately suspects Tamara. On the other side of town, Tamara takes inventory of their stolen items (including the trigger and the magic beans) and prepares to send their data to the “home office” before they get their next assignment, while Greg attempts to torture the location of his father out of Regina. It turns out the two are part of a secret society determined to destroy magic to keep it out of the “real world.” While Emma tries yet again to convince Neal that Tamara is up to no good, the Charmings acquire a spell from Rumpelstiltskin to locate Regina. Lacey overhears his magical dealings, and is intrigued by living with him forever, if only they get the prophecy out of the way. Emma tries to catch Tamara in a lie, but Neal’s fiancé remains one step ahead of her, making her looking like the crazy ex yet again. Emma eventually confesses to Neal that it hurts to see him move on, and he admits that leaving her was his biggest regret. Snow’s magic-induced vision leads them all to converge on the cannery by the docks. Tamara flees, but Greg refuses to leave – tormenting Regina until she admits she killed his father and buried him at their campsite. The Charmings rescue Regina, Greg escapes, and Emma and Neal have a showdown with Tamara that ends with Neal shot and Emma dangling over a magic portal. Just when it seems like everything will be okay, the floor collapses and the two have just enough time for a confession of love before Neal disappears through the portal. A shell-shocked Emma returns to her parents. The news goes from bad to worse when Regina clues them into the trigger in Tamara’s possession. As Greg buries his father’s remains, Tamara informs him of their new assignment – blowing Storybrooke off the map.

Next week, Storybrooke (and Regina?!) are possibly no more.

Thoughts/Theories
• Poor Emma. Is she ever going to have her happy ending?
• This development with Tamara and Greg and their anti-magical secret society is interesting. I wonder if this proves my theory that the myths and legends of other cultures represent magical realms that may have crossed over into the “real world.”

Nicole N. decided to justify the countless hours she spends watching television by writing about it here. She is currently terrified of Stanley’s oddly-shaped head on Project Runway. For more tv-centric musings, check out her tumblr.